KCMH
KCMH is the NBC affiliate that serves the Tri-City Bay, CA area. It broadcasts on channel 4. History Sign on and events that led to it (Mid-70s-1977) KCMH-TV signed on for the first time in the early hours of August 4, 1977 as an O&O station of NBC, after all ties with KABC-TV (now known as KABG-TV) were cut as a result of the relations between the latter and the former reaching a souring point of no return in the Mid-70s, leading KABC to become an independent station, before becoming a Fox affiliate in the Mid 1980s and remaining that way until the Mid 1990s. Rocky Start (August-November 1977) During the first 2 months, KCMH had no local newscasts and was not widespread over-the-air, only reaching as far as the Northeast portion of Palm Harbor with its Sunset Hills transmitter. Despite this, residents believed that this station was here to stay, and within those two months, the transmitter had been upgraded to reach a majority of the TCB Area. Newscast's Early Days (November 1977-1979) Around Early-November, KCMH soon introduced their own newscasts, while they were at 6PM and 11PM (all Pacific Standard Time), this was fortunately remedied by the station's choice of news team, which was done through a raffling contest (Another defining feature of KCMH at the Time), with the winners being Denny David, Jenna Ryan, and Eric Clayton (all three have since retired). The former two were assigned as News Anchors & the latter was assigned as Meteorologist, this led to the premiere of "Eyewitness News" on November 26, 1977. KCMH equipped a "unique" news broadcasting format, placing satirical views, while not affecting the news story, and brief recaps of news stories towards the end of a newscast, to name a few. This format would end up being quickly overhauled, with the satirical views strategy being removed, while the brief recap portion was changed to be both towards the end of a newscast, and to also be midway through a newscast (This strategy was dropped by the time KCMH adopted the "NewsChannel 4 moniker). By the Mid-1980s, KCMH rose to become the #1 station in Tri-City Bay, though the station dropped to a #2 from 1987-1991, a #5 from 1993-1995, and #2 again from 2003-2004 (The same year that the station started titling their newscasts as "NBC 4") it remained in that spot until 2005 (Once KTCB took that spot and became #1). The Unnoticeable (1983-1995) By Mid-1983, KCMH-TV become a station impossible not to notice. 1987 oversaw the introduction of a Noon Newscast hosted by the now-deceased Zimmer Welles, and 1990 saw the reinstatement of weekend newscasts after their quiet cancellation in 1978. 1992 also saw an update to their logo as a result of O&O standardization. From 1994-1996, a chain reaction of realignments occurred in a number of markets , and Tri-City Bay was no exception, with all stations switching to new affiliations in 1995 (KTCB went from CBS 2, to Fox 2 Tri-City Bay, KABC went from being KABC Fox 7, to being ABC 7, and KVRO went from Tri-City's 13, to KVRO CBS 13), NBC 4 Tri-City Bay was immune to the realignment, mainly due to NBC's hold on the station, which made KCMH the only privately owned station to not change their affiliation at all. Another thing that happened in 1995, was the retirement of the "Eyewitness News" branding after being in use for 18 years, introducing the "News4" branding that same year. Prosperity (1996-2005) KCMH was doing well, both in newscasts, and programs. To commemorate this, KCMH announced in 1998 that they would start filming their newscasts in 720p High-definition, and introduced them in June of that same year, along with a new logo to replace the previous one from 1992, the 1998 logo would receive mixed reactions due to it being less creative than the logos preceding it. The Fall of 1999 saw the newscasts being renamed to "NewsChannel 4" (Which lasted until March 2003 before the newscasts were renamed once again to NBC 4), and VHF Digital Transmitters being constructed and placed into operation, and 2005 saw the station fall back into the #2 spot (and remain in that spot as of 2016). The permanent move to Palm Harbor, and O&O no more (2005-2006) December 2005, staff were feeling light headed, some even collapsing, and no one knew why. Their solution, was to move to a temporary studio in Palm Harbor for a few months, and investigate what the cause was. By February of 2006, the investigation came to an end, and the cause was now clear and simple, Sewer Gases. More specifically, the studio was, for obvious reasons, built underneath a sewer pipeline. A crack in the foundation and floor of one of the washrooms in the studio, went unnoticed for 28 years, allowing it to emanate both sulfur dioxide & methane gas. That crack had recently gotten bigger, allowing more harmful gases to emanate. Unsurprisingly, everyone now knew about the crack, with the station even planning on getting rid of the crack, before it becomes an eyesore. The investigation had managed to give the station a good reason to seal that crack in the studio. Even after fixing the problem, KCMH-TV had decided that they needed a change in scenery, and thus, their temporary Palm Harbor studio became their permanent studio. June 2006 saw the station be one of the few NBC O&O stations sold off to Media General (Bringing 23 years of being an O&O, to an end). Media General Era (2006-2017) Significant changes ensued after the change of owners, not the least of which, the main music theme being changed from "The NBC Collection", to "Media General News Package". The first significant change happened in 2008, with KCMH's 1998 logo getting the "MG retool", but for almost a month, that was it. In fact, the 2008 retool of the 1998 logo didn't even appear in newscasts yet. The next major change was, of course, the switch to Media General's proprietary GFX package, doing away with the previous GFX that the station held from their O&O days. The third and final significant change, was the switch to HD on July 27, 2008, which coincided with the new aforementioned GFX package. The switch made KCMH-TV the 2nd television station in Tri-City Bay to go High-definition. The previous year, 2007 saw the station celebrate its 30th anniversary with a temporary change to their logo that made it morph from the regular version of the 1998-2008 logo (NBC Peacock on top of text that reads "NBC4"), to an anniversary version of the 1998 logo (1975 Trapezoid "N" logo, on top of text that read, "Happy" on top of more text that reads "30th birthday"), which lasted from August 4-December 31, 2007. The station had also went through 3 different GFX Packages (One that was used from 2011-2015, another from 2015-2017, and another one used since 2017). Despite being in the #2 spot as of 2016, KCMH's newscasts had went from being a #2, to being a #4 in 2009. Most people attribute this to the departure of the 2nd news director, and his successor not being any good, mostly because the latter placed focus on the viewer first, with news second (Compared to the 1st & 2nd news directors' view that both the news and the viewers should equally be the most focus given), and generally not getting an idea of what made their Newscasts #1 in the past. Needless to say, the 3rd News Director stepped down after less than a year, being replaced with the current news director (who was said to be an instant step up from the 3rd). In 2010, it was announced that a colleague was gone. Zimmer Welles had suffered a heart attack shortly after the end of a May 26, 2010 noon newscast, leading to him being airlifted to the area's hospital. Despite the doctors' best efforts, Zimmer was pronounced dead at the age of 53. This announcement took staff and colleagues of Wells aback, he might have been known to be thorough & critical, but he also cared about his job and colleagues, and did it right. The 5PM & 6PM newscasts went on as usual, while the 11PM one was an ode to the late-Zimmer Welles, documenting his news career. The tribute lasted until November 2010. In 2014, NBC 4 premiered a new 4:30PM newscast. This one takes place at the studio's newsroom, rather than in the main set that the rest of the newscasts use. In 2016, it was announced the Media General was to acquire Meredith Corporation which, had the deal gone forward, would lead to the company being renamed "Meredith Media General". However, that same year, the Nexstar Broadcast Group announced that they'll acquire Media General (Cancelling out the planned Meredith Corporation acquisition MG announced). Come January 2017, the Nexstar acquisition went through, and KCMH became an asset of the Nexstar Media Group. Present Day (2017-Present) That same month, KCMH changed their News GFX to one used already by Media General owned stations, shortly before Media General was merged with Nexstar. Another event of note, was that NBC 4 celebrated their Fortieth Anniversary. Announced March 12, 2019, KCMH would be moving again, to a new studio, as it was stated that the current one was getting old, and starting to feel smaller day after day, also announcing that they'll be selling this studio, thus, giving it a future. The previous year, NBC4 started experimenting with 4K cameras for their Newscasts, and plans to start using them full-time by the summer of 2019 or by Early 2020. On June 25, KCMH quietly transitioned from its Palm Harbor Studios, to their new "State-of-the-Art" studio in Port Crescent, with added virtual set. Website & Station Slogan History Website History *tricitybaynbc.com (1997-2000) *nbc4tcb.com (2000-2011) *working4you.com (2011-Present) Slogan History *The latest Tri-City Bay station (General, 1977-1979) *Channel 4, Proud as a Peacock! (General, 1979-1981) *Channel 4, Our Pride is Showing. (General 1981-1982) *KCMH 4, Just Watch Us Now! (General, 1982-1983) *KCMH 4, Be There (General, 1983-1984) *Tri-City Bay's News Channel (1980-1987) *Channel 4, Let's All Be There! (General, 1984-1986) *Come Home to Channel 4. (General, 1986-1988) *Tri-City Bay's Leading Station, for News & Information (Newscasts, 1987-1991) *Come Home to The Best. Only on Channel 4. (General, later shortened to "Only on Channel 4" in '89, 1988-1990) *KCMH 4, The Place To Be. (General, 1990-1992) *The Stars are Back on Channel 4! (General, 1992-1995) *Coverage You Can Count On (Newscasts, 1991-1995) *We're 4 Tri-City Bay (Universal Slogan, 1995-1997) *Working 4 You (Universal Slogan, 1997-Present) Digital Television Analog-to-Digital Conversion KCMH ceased all regular broadcasting on its analog VHF Channel 4 signal, as part of the federally mandated transition to digital on June 12, 2009. The station remained on its pre-transition UHF Digital Channel 32, using PSIP to display the virtual channel of KCMH as 4. As part of the SAFER Act (which KCMH and two other stations participated in), KCMH had kept its analog transmitters running for "Nightlight" service announcements, before permanently shutting down said transmitters on June 30th, making it the last station in the Tri-City Bay market to do so. Newscast Titles * Eyewitness News (1977-1984) * Channel 4 Eyewitness News(1984-1995) * News 4 (1995-1999) * NewsChannel 4 (1999-2003) * NBC 4/NBC 4 Today (2003-Present) Newscast Themes * KNBC 1975 News Theme (1977-1984) * KNBC News Package - Tuesday Productions (1984-1987) * WRC 1986 News Theme (1987-1991) * WMAQ 1989 News Theme (1991-1993) * KNBC 1993 Theme (1993-1995) * WTVJ Custom News Package - Metro Music (1995-1997) * WRC - Working 4 You (1997-1999) * Prime News (NBC Version) - Newsmusic Central (1999-2001) * The Tower V.1 - 615 Music (2001-2005) * The NBC Collection - Gari Media Group (2005-2007) * Media General News Package - JDK Music (2007-2015) * Canvas - Stephen Arnold Music (2015-2017) * WCMH 2016 News Theme + WCMH 2016 Morning News Theme (2017-2019) * Inergy - Stephen Arnold Music (2019-present) Owner(s) * NBCUniversal (1977-2006, Sold to Media General) * Media General (2006-2017, Owner acquired by Nexstar Media Group) * Nexstar Media Group (2017-Present) Notable On-Air Staff Anchors Weekday Edition *Jerry McConnell (NBC 4 Today, Main Anchor. 2007-Present) *Riley Williams (NBC 4 Today, Main Anchor. 2002-Present) *Daniel Brown (NBC 4 Today, Fill-In Anchor. 1997-Present) *Jennifer Broadwell (NBC 4 at Noon, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 11PM, Fill-In Anchor. 1997-Present) *Jack Winn (NBC 4 at Noon, Fill-In Anchor. NBC 4 at 4:30PM & 5PM, Main Anchor. 2005-Present) *Len Michaels (NBC 4 at 4:30PM, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 6PM & 11PM, Fill-In Anchor. 1994-Present) *Finn Strom (NBC 4 at 5PM, Main Anchor. 2011-Present) *Karen Grant (NBC 4 at 5PM, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 11PM, Main Anchor. Mid 1980s-Present) *Stephen Symone (NBC 4 at 6PM, Main Anchor. 1995-Present) *Brandon Milo (NBC 4 at 6PM, Fill-In Anchor. NBC 4 at 4:30PM, Fill-In Anchor. 1992-Present) *Ken Shepard (NBC 4 at 11PM, Main Anchor. 1983-Present) Weekend Edition *Steve Lawrence (NBC 4 Today Weekend, Main Anchor. 2013-Present) *Sarah Brandt (NBC 4 at Noon Weekend, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 6PM Weekend, Fill-In Anchor. 2000-Present) *Franklin Nelson (NBC 4 at 5PM & 6PM Weekend, Main Anchor. 1987-Present) *Jim Franz (NBC 4 at 11PM Weekend, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 5PM Weekend, Fill-In Anchor. 1990-Present) 4Warn Stormteam Meteorologists *Geoff Pennant (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist (NBC 4 at 4:30PM, 6PM, and 11PM, Weekday Edition. 1985-Present) *Keri Bates (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist (NBC 4 at 4:30PM, 6PM, and 11 PM, Weekend Edition. 1995-Present) *Zachary Greene - Meteorologist (NBC 4 Today Weekday. 2009-Present) *Kevin Shepard - Meteorologist (NBC 4 Today & NBC 4 at Noon, Weekend Edition. 2002-Present ) *June Powell - Meteorologist (NBC 4 at Noon Weekday & NBC 4 at 5PM Weekday/Weekend Editions. 1998-Present) Arial4ce (Bell 412 Helicopter) *Ryan Davis - Main Pilot (2011-Present) *Larry Lewis - Fill-In Pilot (2005-Present) *Sandra Wynne - Main Arial Reporter and Photographer (2014-Present) *Nicolas Willis - Fill-In Arial Reporter and Photographer (2001-Present) NBC 4 Sports Staff *Kenny Burns - Sports Anchor (2001-Present) *Lewis Burrows - Sports Anchor/Reporter (2009-Present) *Jeff Dalewood - Sports Reporter (2004-Present) *Pete Kramer - Sports Director (1979-Present) Reporters *Patricia Loft - Reporter (1989-Present) *Stephanie Winston - General Assignment Reporter (1993-Present) *Larry Harris - Traffic Reporter (1986-Present) *Ren Bauer - Reporter (2015-Present) *Conner Hurst - General Assignment Reporter (1998-Present) *Benny Powers - Reporter (1986-Present) Notable Former On-Air Staff *Denny David - Anchor (6PM & 11PM) - Eyewitness News & Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1977-1988, later at KLLL-TV, retired in 1995) *Jenna Ryan - Anchor (6PM & 11PM) - Eyewitness News, Channel 4 Eyewitness News, & News 4 Era (1977-1998, later at KPAD-TV, retired in 2003) *Eric Clayton - Meteorologist/Chief Meteorologist (5PM, 6PM and 11PM) - Eyewitness News, Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, NewsChannel 4, & NBC 4 Era (1977-2004, retired) *Sean Lewis - Reporter - Eyewitness News & Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1978-1990, later at KRSK-TV & KOCC-TV, retired 2001) *Dean Walker - Sports Anchor (Morning and Noon Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, & NewsChannel 4 Era (1989-2000, now at KTCB-TV) *Steven Woodward - Reporter - Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1985-1990, now at KCB-TV) *Jonas Peterson - Reporter - Channel 4 Eyewitness News & News 4 Era (1993-1999, now at KCB-TV) *Mackenzie Gray - Sports Anchor (Weekend Noon Newscasts) - News 4 & Newschannel 4 Era (1996-2002) *Ray Bison - Reporter & Fill-In Anchor (Weekday Newscasts) - Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (2001-2012) *Zimmer Welles - Anchor (Noon Weekday Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (1987-2010, died from a heart attack in 2010) *Terry McCormick - Special Assignments Reporter - Eyewitness News & Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1982-1991, later at KFPL-TV & WNBS-TV, retired in 2014) *Riley Blue - Reporter - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4 & Newschannel 4 Era (1990-2003, later at KFPL-TV as an Editor, was one of the many survivors in the latter station's 2004 studio explosion. Retired) *Shaun Bucklead - Fill-In anchor (6PM & 11PM) - NBC 4 Era (2006-2017, now at WPAD-TV) *Kelly Verond - Reporter - Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (2003-2018, left to pursue other careers) *Clark DuPre - Anchor (Weekend Morning and Noon Newscasts) - News 4, Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (1996-2009) *Mike Carter - Sports Anchor - News 4 & Newschannel 4 Era (1995-2002) *Johnathan Springsteen - Fill-In Anchor (Weekday Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1984-1993, later at KVRO-TV, retired in 2000, passed away in 2013 from Lung Cancer) *Eric Pool - Anchor (Morning Newscasts) - Newschannel 4 and NBC 4 Era (2002-2006, now at WWRC) *Jared Maloney - Anchor (12PM & 5PM Weekday Newscasts, and 11PM Weekend Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, Newschannel 4, and NBC 4 Era (1993-2018, now the main 11PM Anchor for KNBS' Newscasts) *Amy Glennendale - Meteorologist (12PM) - NBC 4 Era (2004-2013, now at KHAX) *Jessica Walker - Anchor (5PM & 6PM weekend newscasts) - NBC 4 Era (2005-2015, now at KOKR as an anchor for the latter's morning newscasts) *Sam Taft - Sports Anchor - Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (2000-2017. Now at WBTV) *Glen Flynn - Anchor (Morning Newscasts) - Eyewitness News, Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, Newschannel 4, and NBC 4 Era (1982-2006. Later at WFIX from 2006-2013, and WWJ from 2013-2019, retired January 1, 2019) Gallery KCMH 1980.png|1980-1986 Logo KCMH 1986.png|Short-Lived variant with current 6-Feathered Peacock (1986-1987) NBC 4 1987.png|1987-1992 Logo NBC 4 1992.png|1992-1998 Logo KCMH 1997.png|1998-2008 Logo KCMH 2002 open.png|News open from 2001-2003 NBC 4 2003 open.png|2003-2005 open KCMH 2008-2011 open.png|2008-2011 News Open NBC 4 2011 open.png|News open from 2011-2015 KCMH 2015-2017 open.png|News open from 2015-2017 KCMH 2017-19 open.png|Last Media General Era news open (2017-2019) KCMH Open 2019.PNG|KCMH News Open - 5PM (2019-present) Channel4EWN87logo.png|Channel 4 Eyewitness News Logo from 1987-1992 NBC 4 Eyewitness News Logo.png|Channel 4 Eyewitness News Logo from 1992-1995 KCMH News 4 1995 Logo.png|News 4 Logo from 1995-1998 KCMH News 4 Logo.png|News 4 logo from 1998-1999 News Channel 4 Logo.png|News Channel 4 Logo from 1999-2003 (before they started titling their newscasts as "NBC 4") KCMH Studios Pre-2006.png|KCMH's first studio in Sunset Hills used from 1977-2006 (Image taken in 2001) KCMH 1986 ID.png|"Come Home To Channel 4!" Localized Station ID for NBC's "Come Home To NBC" campaign (1986-87) KCMH1987IDwithinNewsOpen.png|1987-1991 Station ID as seen in this news open (Recorded in 1990) KCMH1988StationID.png|"Come Home To The Best. Only On Channel 4!" Localized Station ID for NBC's "Come Home To The Best. Only On NBC" campaign (1988-89) The Stars are Back on KCMH 4VHS.png|"The Stars are Back on Channel 4!" Localized Station ID for NBC's "The Stars are Back" campaign (1993-1995) NBC Next ID with KCMH Legal Identification.png|KCMH's Legal Identification Bug on this NBC Next ID (Late-1994) Category:Tri-City Bay, CA Category:California Category:NBC affiliated stations Category:Current NBC Affiliates Category:Channel 4 Category:Television channels and stations established in 1977 Category:Nexstar Media Group